Teloma
by AsdButTrue
Summary: Teloma is a particular recurrence in Konoha. They usually celebrate it with a couple party at Hokage's Residence. Troubles coming for Naruto... and many others. Sooo many pairings. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

Hi, it's me, the writer. How you doin'?

This story is set right after Chapter 310 of Naruto Manga, which, as you may have noticed, I didn't draw. Since I don't own anything about Naruto's show, I'm not going to earn any money by this fanfiction. And that's sad.

Anyway, um, for the **Summary**, this story is about a particular recurrence in the Konoha Village, which is purely fictional. I decided to call it "Teloma" (that is also the title for this story), and you'll know why by reading.

Well, let's start!

**TELOMA**

**1****st**** day**

Konohagakure is one of the five great ninja village, and as such, it's one of five villages with a Ninja Academy, that is a school for young Ninja, as well as a training center for older Shinobis. It was the home of the main cast of the great country known as Land of Fire and, although being known as a peaceful country, it's military power was well know all over the world, thanks to the witness of his Shinobis.

In that autumn day, a little practice field in that village was occupied by a bright, young ninja, who at the age of 16 had already become a Jounin. His name was Neji, descendent of the Hyuga clan.

Neji was training. He had started at dawn, took a break of about two minutes at noon, and was going to train non-stop 'til sunset. That, in fact, was Neji's ordinary day when he was not going on a mission. He was working to improve his Byakugan (a particular power he inherited by his clan which allowed him to extend his sight and see through things that would usually be obstacles for ordinary eyes). That technique gave him the ability to see the chakra flowing in someone's body, as well as giving him an almost 360-degree field of vision, save for a small blindspot at the back of the neck. That small blindspot was his imperfection, and he had to go over it.

But in the evening he was starting to feel tired.

"Damn.. Maybe I should take another break... Just two other minutes…" he thought, and so gave up, sitting on the grass of the training field. His sight went over the sky, where the sun was very close to the horizon. "A little bit more, and I can go home".

But just right then, someone entered the training field. Was he Gai-sensei? No, it was a girl.

A girl?

Oh sure, he knew her. It was Ino Yamanaka. The girl of the flower shop. Their first meeting took place during the chuunin exams, three years ago. But they never knew well each other, so he was wondering what in the world could she want from him.

Moreover, he noticed she was coming toward him with a very strange face. Was it.. shyness? Well, a different sort of shyness of his cousin Hinata (that wasn't that pathetic) , but still…

Although he surely didn't ever feel scared by a girl, he was feeling uneasy as he saw her coming closer.

"Hi Neji.." she finally spoke.

"Hi" he answered, coldly. It's not like he was trying to look cool, that was just as he was.

She lowered her eyes, and played with her fingers.

"… How's your training going?"

Neji raised an eyebrow.

"Fine" he answered.

Silence fell between the two, she standing in front of him, who was sitting on the ground. She sure was feeling uneasy, too, but Neji realized it wasn't shyness, and if it was, she was not giving up to it, since she never stuttered (unlike her cousin).

"Is she just trying to look feminine?" he finally realized in his mind. Sure she was cute. Man, what was he tinking?

She finally broke the silence:

"You know, Neji.. We really don't know well each other, but I was thinking, maybe we could hang out together, the day after tomorrow?"

What??? Was she serious??? He was going to answer, when suddenly he felt a strange form of chakra slowly insinuating into his body, and then into his mind. He automatically summoned his power known as Byakugan, scaring Ino to death (let's say that Neji's power's not that cute to watch, since a few veins appear under his skin all around his eyes). He jumped on his feet, saying out loud:

"WHAT'S THIS?"

Ino shivered, quickly said: "Let's talk about it later, ok?", and ran away. The strange chakra in Neji's body disappeared before he could see where it was coming from. He confusingly looked at her as she disappeared from his sight.

That strange episode tortured his mind for a few minutes, preventing him to restart his training, until he was shocked by a sudden voice behind him.

"NEJI, YOU'RE SUCH A MORON!"

Neji angrily turned his head, seeing the disappointed face of his teammate and "friend" Rock Lee, watching at him from up the wall which delimited the training field.

"Lee, what the hell do you want?"

"YOU MORON!"

He jumped down, landing right in front of the other boy.

"You were so lucky to be invited by such a cute girl like Ino-chan, and you rejected her roughly!"

"What are you talking about? Invited to what?"

"Geez, the day after tomorrow it's TELOMA!!"

Neji stood there for a while, then his serious face slowly turned into a shocked one.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"AAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWW", Naruto cried.

He was at Ichiraku Ramen bar, eating his daily ration of ramen, while talking with an older shinobi, to whom he referred as Iruka-senpai.

"Is it really that soon?? How comes I didn't know it??"

Iruka couldn't help but smile, looking at how serious this thing was for the boy.

"You should have known earlier if you had studied my lessons on Konoha's calendar and recurrences" he answered with a smirk.

"Man, I never cared about it before because I was too young to join the celebrations!" Naruto cried, not forgetting for even a moment to feed himself with a gulp of ramen, now and then.

"Anyway, now you're a fifteen genin, and so you're invited to the Teloma party in the Hokage's Residence".

"But, senpai, I need a girl to go with!"

Iruka, showing a grin of consensus, replied: "Do you already know who to invite?"

Naruto froze.

"Heu… well… Hmmm… Who are you going to invite, Senpai?"

Iruka froze.

"Herr… I have an idea or two…"

"Really? Who??"

Iruka looked straight into Naruto's eyes.

"You have to tell nobody, 'cause I have not asked her yet, understood?"

Naruto looked back.

"Yup, I promise"

Iruka's eyes became smaller.

"I'm going to invite…"

Naruto got closer to him.

"… Hana Inuzuka"

That was a real surprise to Nasuto.

"EEEEH? YOU MEAN KIBA'S SISTER?"

Iruka gasped and quickly put his finger on his mouth.

"Ssssssst!! Naruto, lower your voice!!"

"Eh.. Uh, sorry…"

The older shinobi, worried, move his sight around the bar, to see if anyone was looking at them. But nobody seemed to care them. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Naruto grinned.

"But, Senpai, it doesn't seem like she'll easily say yes to you!"

"What? Why?"

"She's a really cute girl, you know, and moreover she's kinda requested. It seems that Kakashi sensei's after her, too"

"WHAT???" Iruka exclaimed, terrified, "But then I have no chance at all!!"

Naruto, seeing his former sensei falling into depression, quickly added:

"Well, but maybe Kakashi sensei's going to invite Shizune-sama!"

But there was nothing to do. Iruka had lost his happy mood.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Streets, in Konoha Village, are very large, especially those in the center of it, 'cause they had been built in order to allow great parades in special occasions, like the end of a war.

And in one of that large street, a young man was running desperately, escaping by a whole multitude of girls who were running after him.

"Troublesome" he said to himself, looking at all that girls behind him who were getting closer and closer.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was night, and Naruto was lazily going back home. Walking with both hands behind his head, he was thinking about the Teloma recurrence. He tried to imagine himself asking Sakura to go with him at the party. No matter which words he picked, it always ended up with he being punched away. Sigh

Suddenly he found himself unable to move another step. His body wasn't answering him anymore. Then he heard a particular noise coming from behind the corner. A noise which sounded like footsteps. It maybe sounded more like an army's marching. The noise was getting closer.

"What the…?"

A crowd of girls turned the corner, and ran toward the terrified young Ninja. They all stopped their run as they saw him. One of the girls leading the crowd spoke to him.

"Did you see Shikamaru around here?"

Shikamaru? He was going to answer that he hadn't seen him at all that day, when his right arm moved on his own and the hand pointed to the bottom of the street, in the other direction.

The girls nodded and ran away. After a few minutes of screams and running, they all disappeared from his sight.

"Phew, that was close!"

Naruto immediately recognized that voice.

"Shikamaru?"

As an answer, the boy came out from the shadows and released his control on his friend's body.

"Hey, Naruto!"

"So, it was you!! Hi there!" Naruto happily exclaimed. They stared at each other for a while, then Naruto erupted:

"Wait a moment, all those girls were after you??"

Shikamaru sighed, and nodded.

"How troublesome".

"You kidding me??? Man, I soo envy you!"

Shikamaru smiled, and lighted a cigarette.

"You shouldn't, really. Girls are such trouble"

Naruto put his hands behind his head again, seeming not persuaded at all.

"Were you going home? I'm coming with you" he smiled in response.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kiba, where are you going at this time??"

Hana Inuzuka was staring with a very menacing look at his little brother Kiba who, riding his loyal Akamaru, was trying to slink out of his house.

"Ha… Hana, I'm going out!"

"Out where?? Dinner's almost ready!"

"Herm… I can't stay, I have a very important thing to do with Shino…"

"You're not going anywhere!"

That was getting bad. Kiba patted his hand on Akamaru shoulder's, and the big dod dashed out of the door, barkling in excitement.

"Kiba! Akamaru!" his sister shouted, but they were already gone.

After a few minutes, they were at Shino's house, where the boy was waiting for them.

"Ah, you finally arrived"

"Sorry if we're late, Shino, but we had to run away from my sister"

Shino nodded, then he took out of his sleeve a paper.

"Uh? What's that?"

Shino smiled, even though nobody saw that because his mouth was always covered by the collar of his upper suit.

"It's the map of the village"

"Really? And what are we gonna do with it?"

"On it, I highlighted the point with massive gathering of girls of our age"

Kiba laughed.

"Man, let's hope it'll work".

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two boys walked along in the village, engulfed in the night's silence. It was very late.

"And so, the day after tomorrow it's gonna be Teloma, uh?" Naruto asked, giggling.

"It seems so" Shikamaru answered.

Naruto remained silent for a bit, then he spoke:

"Why is it called Teloma?"

"Hmmm… Once, Asuma-sensei told me that 'Teloma' is the term used to refer on the portion of the leaf over the upper ramification. And thus, this recurrence symbolize the birth of new ramification, and it's celebrated in Autumn 'cause that's when the old leafs will die, to let others come and take their place in Spring. Or something like that, I wasn't paying attention".

"And who are you inviting?" Naruto grinned, curiosity eating him from inside.

"Ah… I think I'm gonna pass"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm not going"

"What? Why??"

"Too much trouble" Shikamaru stated, closing his eyes.

Naruto, scratching his cheek with his hand, replied: "Well, that's so much like you"

"And what about you?"

"Me? What?"

"Are you asking Sakura to go with you?"

Naruto shivered.

"Ahahahah… I think she'd kill me if I asked her…"

"And why is that?" Shikamaru asked sincerely.

"You never saw her angry. And she gets angry every time I ask her on a date" Naruto admitted.

Shikamaru looked at his friend, trying to understand if he was kidding. Then he asked:

"Are you for real?"

"U-uh" Naruto nodded.

"Odd, I always thought you really got along with each other"

"Oh well, usually we do… We are good friends… That's all…"

Shikamaru seemed perplexed now.

"Don't fake it, it is obvious you like her"

"… Uh?"

Naruto looked straight to Shikamaru. He was smiling. A warm smile. Shikamaru was that kind of guy, too sensitive to ever take a fool out of someone's feeling. Yes, he was trustworthy.

"Uah, uah, uah.. so you noticed, uh?" Naruto laughed.

Kishimaru smiled back. Then he added:

"Seriously, that's no mystery"

"Eheh, I guess so…"

"Girls… So trouble…"

They kept on walking silently for a while.

"You should invite Choiji" Naruto said.

"Ahahahahah… No…" Shikamaru joked.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Ino was on her way home. She had stopped at the central park, trying to absorb Neji's rejection.

"Waaaah, I have to go to the party with some really cool guy. Damn, that Neji bastard refused me! But maybe it was my mistake to try _Shintenshin no Jutsu _on him".

Geez, my girl, that was really stupid to start with. Her plan was to transfer just a little of her mind into his, so that he wouldn't have lost his consciousness, to make him unwillingly say yes to her, so that he could not take his word back, even if he didn't understand why he said yes to her. But that was really lame, she had to admit it. And what if he found out what she wanted to do? That was close.

Still… She was not sure if Neji would have said yes on his own, she had to do it. Last year Sakura came at the party with a very cool guy two years older than them, while she went with Kiba, and she totally lost her little competition. That year she had to win! Her escort should be cooler than Sakura's.

But who….

Wait!

Sure! Why didn't she think about that???

She grinned.

"Tomorrow… I'll ask Sai!"

She ran toward her house, unaware that someone was looking at her on the other side of the street. Someone fa… herr, I mean pleasingly plump.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hi there! Second chapter's up._

_First thing, thanks to RyuMiko, Yami Umi, Krimsom and Gnosismaster for their reviews. Thank you._

_Second thing, I should thank mangalover248 for the reference. I did actually got confused about Neji's age. _

_Third thing, about the pairings… I usually try to avoid saying my opinion about those (for my own sake), let's just say I'm not gonna reveal them if not in the story itself, otherwise I could burn the ending. _

_Hope you'll like it. _

**TELOMA**

**2nd day – morning**

It was a nice day, for it to be Teloma's eve.

Shizune woke up early that morning, as she did every morning since she became Tusnade's assistant. But Shizune never complained, on the contrary, she got used to that life style. After quickly dressing herself, she moved toward Tsunade's office.

She finally reached the door, and knocked on it.

"Tsunade-sama? I'm entering"

She received no response, and opened the door. The room was empty. She sighed. She went over the window, and took the time to wash down some flowers. After doing it, she stared at the panorama: from that window, she could see Konoha in almost its entirety.

"Now where is she?" she mumbled.

"If you're talking about the Hokage-sama… She went out about an hour ago"

Shizune screamed in terror, being completely off guard. Kakashi's face had just appeared from outside of the window, scaring her almost to death.

"Hehe, I have to be very good if you didn't notice me coming" he giggled.

"Kakashi-san, it was you…"

"Hi there" he greeted.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was just passing by, you know"

"Anyway, where did Tsunade-sama go?

Kakashi shrugged.

"Don't really know"

"Hmpf. Let's hope she didn't go gambling again…"

"By the way… Are the preparations for Teloma party ready?"

"Almost everything. But it was a load of work"

"I guess so. Well, are you…."

"KAKASHI!"

That sudden scream surprised both Kakashi and Shizune.

"YOU'RE NOT GOIN' TO DO THIS TO ME AGAIN!"

Kakashi suddenly realized.

"Oh man. I think I know this voice"

On the street below the Hokage's Residence, there Gai stood, watching at Kakashi attached to the window.

"Mighty Gai's COMING!!"

At those words, the shinobi ran over the wall of the building, reaching the same window where Kakashi was.

"This time it's my turn!" he declared, once arrived.

"Your turn?" Kakashi asked, clueless.

"Yes, I'm asking her!"

Kakashi sighed.

"Come on, Gai, you only want to ask Shizune because you know I was going to ask her"

Shizune, in the meanwhile, was staring blankly at both of the Jounin's heads appearing out of the window.

"Remember what happened last year?? You invited Ayame and I remained all alone!"

"Are you for real…?"

Kakashi's indifference made Gai even angrier, so he quickly took a book away from the other's hand and threw it in the street. Kakashi's face turned pale.

"WHAT THE… ICHA ICHA TACTICS!!! I DIDN'T FINISHED IT YET!"

With no second thoughts, Kakashi jumped down; Gai smiled with joy, and jumped in, landing right in front of shizune.

"Shizune-san, will you come with me to tomorrow Teloma party?" he proclaimed, posing and smiling. His teeth sparkled.

Shizune, caught completely off guard, couldn't help but smile (even if it wasn't a very persuaded smile).

"Su… Sure, why not?"

"YEEES!! TAKE THIS, KAKASHI!"

Kakashi landed on the street, and took back his precious book right a moment before a kid was going to take it.

"Sorry, this is mine" he said with a smile. Then he heard Gai's scream of victory. So, he called for him:

"Gai, there was no need to be harsh! You had just to ask me, and I'd let you go first!"

Then he waved his hand and got away. He actually felt annoyed, but he knew the best way to make Gai pay was to fake indifference. In fact Gai, on the window, heared Kakashi's statement, and felt suddenly angry.

"Grrrr, why doesn't he give me any satisfaction!!"

_Gai's fantasy (how he wanted things to be)_

_Kakashi: "Oh, Gai, I had no hope against you to start with! You're too mighty for me!"_

_Gai: "Ahahaha, don't say this, I'll let you be my underling!"_

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ok, if I can reach that tree over there without using my feet and hands, I'll ask Sakura to come with me to Teloma Party"

With that special bet on himself, Rock Lee was going to decide his future. Tenten was sitting nearby, watching his friend training.

"Humm, without hands and feet? And how are you supposed to walk?" the girl asked, looking at the tree which was distant about ten or twenty meters from Lee.

"Like this!" the boy answered, lying on his abdomen and moving as a snake. His friend looked at him blankly, as he moved of a few centimetres in two minutes.

"Man, at this rate, even if you reach that tree, it would be too late to invite Sakura" she commented.

"I must do it" he answered back. She sighed, and raised her hand. Right in that moment, she saw Sakura passing by, not so far from the training field they were.

"Hey, Lee, Sakura is right there! Go and ask her!" she happily said.

In response, Lee accelerated his snake-race toward the tree. Tenten sighed again, stood up and reached him with a few steps. Then she lifted him up grabbing his collar.

"Be a man and ask her, if you really want too" she said, looking into Lee's eyes with pure determination.

"Yessir" is all that he could say. Back on his feet, Lee ran over the other girl.

"Sakura-chan!!"

Sakura seemed lost in her mind, but when she heard Lee's calling her, she looked over him and smiled.

"Ah, Lee! Good morning" she greeted.

"I… I hope I don't disturb you…" Lee said, shyly.

"Uh, not really…"

"No, really, if you're busy and don't have time for me, we'll talk later…"

"Uhmm… Lee, I already told you that's fine…"

_Inside Lee's mind (Lee's imagination)_

_Ok, now it's the right time. Gather your strength, show her your "good guy" ' smile, and she'll be yours._

_Lee: "Sakura, would you like to come with me at the Teloma party?"_

_Sakura: "Of course, Lee! I would follow you anywhere!"_

_Lee: "Thank you, Sakura, I love you!"_

_Sakura: "I love you too!"_

Finally Lee opened his mouth in order to speak… just to find that Sakura now was talking with Naruto.

"Yes, Naruto? What did you want to tell me?"

"Ahahahaha, Sakura-chan, I wanted to ask you one thing…"

"Yes, what is it?"

"Nothing, I wanted to ask you a thing…"

"Yes, tell me"

"You know, I wanted to tell you…"

"STOP GOOFYING AROUND AND TELL ME, NARUTO"

"Oh no, he's going to invite her to the party! I have to stop him" was Lee's first thought. His second thought was to attack his rival with a flying kick.

Naruto dodged at the last very second, rolling away.

"What the…Thick-brow? What are you doing?"

"Naruto, let's train!" Lee shouted.

"Right now???" Naruto incredulously asked.

Sakura just stared at them in disbelief as they kicked each other in the middle of the street.

"Well, okay, now it's time for me to go…" she said, without even being heard by the two boys. She sighed and left.

Naruto and Lee realized she was gone, only a few minutes later.

"Hey, where's Sakura?" Naruto asked while blocking Lee's punch with his right hand.

"Uh?"

Lee stopped fighting and looked around.

"Nooooo, she left!" he shouted, desperately.

Naruto looked at him, then replied:

"So THAT'S why you attacked me!"

Lee faced his young love rival.

"YES, I'm gonna invite Sakura at the party! And she's gonna say yes!"

"In your dreams! You'll just get punched right in the face!"

"We'll see about it!! In this right moment, I, Rock Lee, declare war to you!"

"And I, Uzumaki Naruto, accept your challenge!"

"No, no" Lee replied, shaking his forefinger, "I declared war, so you should say: 'So be it!'"

"Uh, really?" Naruto said, confused, "Then… So be it!"

Tenten, looking at them from the training field, couldn't believe at her eyes.

"Are… Are those two for real…?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Still morning, a pub in Konoha. Two old friends are drinking Sake together and talking about old times.

"Ahahah, that sure was funny! Remember Oro's face?" Jiraya laughed out loud.

"That was actually the only time I saw him afraid of something!" she answered, laughing back.

They both were already drunk in that time of the morning. That's how it was every time they went out together.

"Ah, that poor girl didn't ask him on a date ever again"

"Yeah, he sure did overreact"

"Talking about over reacting.. Did you forget when you almost killed me?"

"You were peeping in the women bath!"

Jiraya couldn't help but remember that scene, and he turned into pervert mode.

"Yeah… That was great…"

"Stop drooling, your saliva is falling into my glass" she said ironically.

"So, is it true that you invited people of the Sand country to join the party of tomorrow?"

"Sure, I thought that could make our alliance stronger, don't you agree?"

"This time, I totally agree with you".

Jiraya turned serious in a moment. Suddenly the alcohol had started to corrupt his brain.

"-Heek- Anyway, you weren't nice"

"… Uh? When? Why?"

"… You puncht me in da fase. And in da chest. It was painfuuuuuuul"

"I'm sorry Jiraya…"

Tsunade was going to soon reach him in the "alcholo got me" mode.

"BUT!" he screamed, almost scaring her.

"What?" she asked, truly curious.

"This time you're not gonna say me Noooou… You say Yes! Maybe at least!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I don't know" Jiraya admitted, really clueless about his own speech. He concentrated to gather his thoughts, then he said:

"Yeah, yeah, now I remember. Tomorrow it's Teloma. I want to celebrate it with…"

His sigh became confused, but he forced himself to keep on speaking.

"… with… with the three of you!" he finally said.

Tsunade laughed.

"Three? Uahahaha, Jiraya… what are you saying…? We are… two!"

They both collapsed on the table, ronfing.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sai was in the library, reading a book. He was always there when he had the time, 'cause his favourite hobby was to study human emotions, those emotions that he – for some reason – didn't have, or simply forgot to have.

If you want to know my opinion, I think Kankuro's puppet have a lot more charisma.

But, whatever, Ino was going to invite him at the party, because he was very HOT, as hot as Sasuke at least, and he did show her in the past that he sort of liked her.

So, Ino entered the library, and when she saw him sitting there and reading, she almost melted.

Hot, hot!

She came closer, waving her hand.

"Hi there, Sai-kun!"

Sai raised his head up from the book, and looked toward her. He then did his smile, that kind of smile that is so hard to see if it's fake or for real.

"Oh, Hi… What was your name again?"

Ino almost stumbled. She quickly regained her balance, and tried to stay calm, although anger was taking over.

"Ahaha… How funny of you… You're kidding me, right?" she faked a laugh, giving him a second chanche.

He simply stared at her with no expression.

"Ok, I'll give you a hint… It starts with "I" and ends with "O"" she asked again, trying with all her inner strength not to lose control.

Sai answered: "Io?".

"THAT'S NOT EVEN A WORD, YOU DUMBASS!" she exploded, scaring him to death.

"I… I surrender?" he said, afraid that she could punch him just as Sakura usually did.

"I'm INO, moron, and never forget it!" she shouted, then left.

Sai remained alone in the room, asking himself what did just happen. Then he shrugged, and restarted to read his book.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Ino came out of the library with a very angry look, she saw Choiji right in front of her.

"Oh, Hi!"

Choiji returned the look. Ino couldn't help but to think that he had become much bigger than three years ago, and he even looked stronger. Yet, he was a bit fatty. But she had to remember not to tell him.

"Hi, Ino-chan" Choiji spoke. He seemed very serious. Suddenly Ino felt worried.

"Did something happen, Choiji-kun?" she asked.

"Hmm… well… I wanted to ask you a thing…"

A sudden fresh breeze crossed them both, messing Ino's hair up.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

_THE END!_

_Never forget to let me know what you think. _

_Really. Anything you're thinking. Even if you're thinking "A pink dancing racoon would be funny", let me know. _

_I'd rather know what you think about my story, but that would be enough, really. _


	3. Chapter 3

Ok, so… Hi! It's me, the author!

So, thanks again to Gnosimaster and Mangalover248 for their reviews, especially because 392 people hit this fanfic, and only five did actually reviewed it.

I just hope this doesn't mean 387 readers thought this story sucks. Thanks for reading to them anyway.

Aww, well, here's the new chapter!

Hope you'll enjoy it. I'm actually having fun writing it.

**TELOMA**

**2nd day – noon**

Konoha again. Satura was freely walking around the village, stopping now and then by some shop window that caught her interest. Eventually she stopped in front of Ino's flower shop. She looked carefully into the window, but her friend wasn't there. She shrugged, then went over.

Some meters away, Lee was hiding behind a wall and peeping on her.

"Wow, she's really beautiful! Come on, Lee, you can do it! Go and ask her!"

Sakura turned behind a corner, and disappeared from Lee's sight. So, he stealthily walked toward the same corner. Sakura was right there, looking in his direction. Lee gasped as she called out his name.

"Hey, Lee-kun! .. What are you doing…?" she asked, perplexed.

"Heu… Hemm… I'm training!"

Sakura didn't seem very persuaded at first, but then she smiled, and said:

"You're funny, Lee!".

Her smile was so warm that Lee felt like melting.

"Sakura-chan… I wanted to ask you…"

"Yes?" she said, rising her both eyebrows.

"Would… you come with me at Teloma's party?"

"Of course…"

Lee's heart bounced all around in his chest.

"Re… Really?"

"No!!" she said, changing expression.

In front of Lee's shocked eyes, Sakura evaporated in a bubble of smoke, and in her place Naruto appeared. He was smiling triumphant.

"Ehehehehe, I tricked you!"

"What??? So where is she???"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto was running in a narrow street, proudly thinking at his evil plan. He had combined _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu _to create a clone of himself,and then _Henge no Jutsu _to transform that clone into Sakura, in order to fool Lee and make him lose time with the wrong girl. And it worked!

Finally, after getting ride of his rival, he could concentrate on finding Sakura.

After a few minutes of research, he finally found her: she was entering in a building he didn't seem to recognize. She passed through a door, and then closed it behind her.

The building had a tall wall which delimited its borders. Over that wall, there was probably a garden, since he could see the top of a tree coming up.

He grinned. The wall sure was tall, but not enough for a trained Ninja. He jumped over it with ease, and landed on the other side, quickly hiding behind the tree. He was going to peep out, when suddenly he felt an hand on his shoulder. He turned his head… and saw Lee, right behind him.

"That was unfair!!" the boy stated.

"Lee?? What the...? How could you find me?" he whispered.

Lee was going to reply, when a girlish laughter stopped him. They both poked out from the tree, and saw many naked girls bathing in some sort of pool in the middle of the garden.

They were in a hot spring used as a bath for girls only.

Blood came out of their nose.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shikamaru was lying on the grass in the garden of his house, looking at the clouds. That was one of his favourite hobbies, as well as taking naps and playing Shogi and Go.

Moreover, he couldn't get out of his garden, since surely some girl was waiting for him on the outside, ready to ambush him. Why was he that popular?

Usually, he didn't get that successwith the other sex. But, being Teloma's party very close in time, many girls wanted to invite him, 'cause he was a guy who became Chunin at the age of twelve, and at fifteen he already was an instructor at the ninja academy.

"Bah, whatever" he mumbled, thinking of that, "Don't care".

A sudden crackling alerted the door of the garden was opening. Shikamaru was preparing to run away, when he saw it was Choiji.

He was going to greet him with a smile, but then he realized… his friend was crying.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ino was walking. She didn't even know where she was. She didn't cared. What just happened had hurt her.

Choiji. Inviting her at Teloma's party. He really seemed to care to go there with her. And that scared her so much, that she rejected him with a cold "no".

Maybe it hurt Choiji much more than her. But what she supposed to do? Choiji was a good friend, sure, but not THAT kind of friend… She didn't know he even cared about girls.

With that thoughts torturing her mind, she didn't noticed the guy who was walking over her, so they barged into each other.

"Oy, watch out!" she screamed. The other didn's answer. Only then, she looked at his face, realizing it was Neji. His cold eyes made her feeling as she was naked.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The group of shinobis from the Sand village arrived in Konoha at noon. Among them, Temari and Kankuro. Gaara couldn't come 'cause he was too busy administering his own country. You know, a Kage's life is not just honours and acknowledgement.

Tsunade, who had sobered up after the drinking session with Jiraya, went to greet them at the entrance of the village.

After the formalities, the group moved to the Hokage's residence, where they would have spent the night. Tsunade let Shizune accompany them, and remained at the gate, looking toward the wood that bordered Konoha. She was thinking about what Jiraya told her.

_Flashback_

_Jiraya looked at her with a very charming look. She knew he had always liked her, but there had never been any place in her heart for him, as it was fully occupied by Dan. Even before her first love, she still kept on refusing Jiraya's courting. And she still did. She didn't know why. It's not like she hated him, instead she really cared about him – they had known each other since, well, ever – maybe that's how their relationship was intended to be. _

"_A bet"._

_She was got completely off guard by what he said._

"_A bet?"_

"_Yes. If I win, you'll be my girl at Teloma. If I lose, I won't ask you out for a month!" he blinked._

"_Hmm, that's unfair. You know I can't say no to a bet"._

_Jiraya laughed in his mind. He also knew she wasn't good at all in betting. He still remember that time they played strip-poker… _

"_Anyway, bet on what?" she asked._

_He giggled._

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, man, so you're abandoning me?" Kiba cried. Akamaru barked.

"It's not like that. This mission can't wait the end of Teloma. Besides, my father's going too, and he asked me to go with him" Shino calmy affirmed.

Kiba looked at him suspiciously.

"Aren't you accepting this mission because yesterday three girls rejected you, are you…?"

"Not at all" Shino answered back, not loosing his cool.

"May be" Kiba thought, "… still it looks like that".

"Now I have to go, I should meet with Neji-san and my father at the gate".

"Yeah, yeah… see you".

Shino left, and Kiba remained alone with Akamaru. He jumped up on his dog, and so they started their daily walk across Konoha. The boy carelessly abandoned himself on his pet's body, his mind analysing the events of the night before. He and Shino had checked every place signed on the map, in order to find a girl for each for Teloma party. Unfortunately, Akamaru was too big and scary, while Shino's affinity with bugs was as sexy as a pink dancing racoon.

So, the night turned into a continuous disappointment.

While he was thinking like that, Hinata appeared in front of him.

"Oh, Hi Hinata-chan"

"Hi Kiba" she said, waving her hand.

The dog-riding boy came closer to his friend.

"What are you doing all alone?" he asked with a big smile.

"Hemm…"

She seemed more embarrassed than she used to.

"Wazzup? Cm'on, you can tell me"

"Well, I was looking for Naruto-kun…" she said, blushing.

"Oh I see… Well, I've nothing to do, so what if we go and look for him together?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ino and Neji were sitting on a bench. It was lunch time, so not many people were around that park which, usually, was very frequented.

"Oh, so you're going on a mission?" Ino asked, looking into Neji's face. When he wasn't using Byakugan, he really looked cute.

"Should leave in an hour" he answered. Neji was staring his own feet. He wasn't really a shy guy, but on the other hand he didn't talk much to girls. That was unusual for him.

"Oh".

Ino looked at him curiously. Neji suddenly raised his head, looking at her with a serious expression. He didn't even say a word, but she blushed.

Then he said: "Sorry for yesterday. I didn't really understand what was going on, and I acted… a bit rude".

She blushed even more, but forced herself to speak:

"Don't worry. Anyway, tomorrow you wouldn't have been able to come to the party, so…"

"Yeah, that's right. So, it's not like I refused you or anything…".

For only a second, Ino had the impression he was going to blush, too. But he regained his composure so quickly that, later, she would have wondered if he had ever lost it.

"Well, now I have to go".

He stood up, said "by", then move a few steps away. While she was looking at his back, he stopped, and without turning his head, said:

"But next time, don't try to control my mind".

He slowly left, and she wished to sink deep in the ground. But her humiliation was not over, yet.

On the other side of the courtyard, Shikamaru was approaching.

"Damn, this is gonna be a pain in the ass" he was thinking, while looking at Ino who still hadn't noticed him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where are we going? We shouldn't be here!"

Lee was terrified. He and Naruto were in a Taboo place – the girls dressing room.

They had infiltrated into a girls only hot spring, and that was already too wrong for Gai's student, who had never done anything like that before in his entire life.

And now, they had followed Sakura up to the dressing room. That was too much for him.

"Come on, we're not doing anything bad" Naruto tried to calm him down, "We are just looking for our friend! You can go away, if you want!"

Lee knew that if he left, Naruto would have found Sakura before him, and would have invited her to the party. And she could say yes!

He gulped, but then he answered:

"No way! You're not getting ride of me again!".

The dressing room was very large. Lockers were disposed on lines, that made the room look like some sort of labyrinth. Bath towel were everywhere.

"Sakura..?"

Naruto said her name out loud, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Maybe she's not in here" Lee suggested, looking all around as if expecting an invisible enemy to strike in anytime.

"That's nonsense. We both saw her entering in this room!"

They kept on exploring the room. It seemed nobody was in there. But a sudden noise of footsteps made the two boys shiver in panic.

"Who's there?" Lee whispered to Naruto, who could hear the footsteps too, but couldn't see anyone, also because of the mist of steam coming from some kind of shower.

Naruto decided to peep out from behind a locker.. and he saw her. Sakura. Completely naked, covered just by a tiny towel. She was coming his way, but fortunately she didn't see him.

"It's her!"

"Good, let's talk to her!"

Naruto turned over Lee with a panicked face.

"SHE'S NAKED, IF SHE SEES US NOW WE ARE DEAD MEAT!"

Lee took a few seconds to realize it. Then he panicked, too.

"WHAT DO WE DO?"

"Here, let's hide in this locker!!" proposed Naruto, opening one randomly.

They both entered and closed it from the inside.

"Are… Are we safe?" Lee asked, panting.

Naruto looked in the fissure of the locker… to see that she was coming their way. Did she see them?

"Lee… we're so dead"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One last chapter to go. Or maybe two, I'm not really sure if I should write about the night of the party itself.

Well, thank you for reading, and, of course, let me know if you think this was good/bad/lame.

See yah.


	4. Chapter 4

**TELOMA**

**2nd day – evening - night**

Sakura had heard a strange noise, but was not sure about what it could be. She was in the girls locker room, where she undressed herself and covered with a towel, ready to come out and have a relaxing bath in the thermal pool.

When she entered the room, nobody was in there. So why did she just hear a voice?

Was it really a voice, after all?

Maybe she was just too tired from Tsunade-hime's trainings. They had been harder and harder, lately.

She looked at the number written on the keys she had in the hand: 15. It was the number of the locker that had been given to her, to put her cloths into.

13… 14… 15! There it was!

She inserted the key in the appropriate fissure, and she heard a low noise.

As if something had moved inside the locker.

She froze there for a second, but then she shook her head. It couldn't be.

She finally opened the locker, and screamed. The guy who was hiding in the locker screamed back at her.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"

"Lee-kun???"

His name came out automatically in her mind, and her lips pronounced it, but she still hadn't realized what she saw. Was Lee – Rock Lee – hiding in her locker? In the girls locker room?

She couldn't believe it!

"Lee-kun, is that really you??" she asked, perplexed.

Lee looked to the right, then to the left, then at her.

"… No…?" he shamefully answered.

Sakura's transformation was slow. Her face turned from the usual pink to orange, then to red and finally to deep red; her expression changed, from an overall perplexity, into intense anger.

It almost was like smoke was coming out of her ears.

Lee couldn't do anything but look at her.

Slowly, a cat came out of the same locker where Lee was in. Silently, he moved a few steps, in direction of the exit door. Lee saw him, and suddenly knew what do do.

"THAT CAT OVER THERE IS NARUTO-KUN!" he screamed out.

Sakura was got off guard, and Lee took advantage of it and jumped off the window, breaking the glass into many, little fragments.

The cat, terrified, ran as fast as he could to the door, but Sakura stepped in between.

"Naruto??!" she asked, with a sweet voice which didn't correspond at all with her expression.

The cat disappeared in a bubble of smoke, and Naruto appeared in his place.

"This is the end" was his last thought.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I still don't know how could you persuade me to do such a thing!"

"Oh come on, it's gonna be funny! Moreover, it's a bet!"

. It was already evening in Konoha village. Jiraya and Tsunade were jumping from a roof to the other. Tsunade was the complaining one.

"Well, it's a stupid bet" she kept on saying.

"Nah, nah, it's not stupid!" Jiraya replied, pestered, "and if it is, why did you accept it? Now it's too late to complain!"

"Ah! I'm coming with you just to see your face when you'll lose this bet! I would have a lot better things to do, since I'm the Hokage, you know…"

Tsunade was always complaining, but deep down Jiraya knew she was having fun – and surely she was happy to have an excuse to avoid all that work that awaited her in her office.

The sky was turning into a dark blue, and visibility was evidently decreasing. But that was not a problem neither for Jiraya nor for Tsunade, who kept on silently jumping on the roofs as easily as if it was daytime.

"Hey, look, over there!" Jiraya pointed. Tsunade looked in the direction indicated by her friend, and nodded to him.

They landed on a street, hiding in the shadows of a wall. From there they could watch, unseen, the two shinobis talking in the park.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, Hi Shikamaru-kun" Ino greeted, with a sad smile. It was almost night, and she still had not found a boy to accompany her at the party. Neji had just told her he was going on a mission, Choiji had asked her and she rejected him… She knew Shikamaru wasn't planning to go on Teloma's party, but he was her last hope. "Hemm, Shikamaru-kun… would you like"…

But Shikamaru didn't let her finish the sentence. He had come to the park, looking for her, for another reason.

"I didn't think you were that superficial" he said, coldly.

"W-What? Why do you say so?" she stuttered, clueless. Then, she understood.

"Ah, it's for Choiji, isn't it? He sent you here to persuade me, right?"

"Not at all" Shikamaru replied, "He didn't ask me to do anything. I'm here by my own will".

"Well, who do you think you are to lecture me, uh?" she shouted.

Shikamaru came closer to her, as calm as always.

"Aren't you feeling guilty, Ino? Not even a little?" he asked.

She did. She really did. But admitting it was a different thing.

"Don't see why I should…" she replied.

"You're lying".

Ino froze. That feeling again. Everytime she talked with Shikamaru, she felt like he could read her mind.

"You like Choiji, don't you?" he kept on speaking, "Indeed, you really are fond of him, ain't you?".

"That's not…" she tried to say, but Shikamaru just ignored her.

"Then, why did you reject him, insult him?"

She didn't know why, but was feeling like crying.

"That's because you're scared of what other people could say, right? You can't be seen around with a guy like him, even if you know that he's gentle and he really cares about you".

Ino was broken. She couldn't even speak anymore, just cry, cry everything out. How miserable she was feeling right now.

Shikamaru sighed, and put an hand on her shoulder.

"I'm… I'm such a bad person…" she sobbed.

"Naah, you're not. Anyway, it's never too late, you know" he replied.

They looked at each other and smiled.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tsunade was smiling, too, while Jiraya was crying in emotion. Tsunade noticed, and giggled.

"My, my, Jiraya… You look like an old namby-pamby"

"S-shut up… you witch" he proudly answered, only to be hit on the head by a powerful fist.

The man was to reply something, when Tsunade quickly covered his mouth.

"Stttt! It's not ended yet!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ino was gone, probably to Choiji's house. Shikamaru was happy she helped both his best friends, but he was tired because of the effort, and sat on the bench.

"That was a pain…"

"Quite a nice speech you made"

That voice almost scared Shikamaru to death. He turned his head to see… Temari.

"You here?" he jumped on his feet, "What…"

"We were invited by Tsunade-sama to join tomorrow's party" she explained dryly.

"Ah… I see…" He said.

"I was looking for you!" she said with a grin.

"Really? Why?" he asked.

"Because you're going to accompany me at the party, tomorrow, that's why. I wanted you to know".

"Actually… I…"

His shy complaint died on his lips when he saw she was going to grab her iron fan she always carried on her back, probably with the intention to use it on him. That totally would have been like her.

"…Ok" he then answered, shaking his head.

"… How troublesome…"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tsunade was trying her best not to laugh out loud, while Jiraya was quite scared.

"Jeez, that girl sure is dangerous" he mumbled, looking at Temari from a safe distance.

"Ahaha… well, anyway…" Tsunade tried to say, but anytime she opened her mouth, a snigger came out.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I lost 1 point" Jiraya ended the sentence for her, "But our bet is not concluded yet".

They silently crawled back on the top of a roof, and jumped away.

"Still, I was sure Shikamaru was not going to come at the party" the male shinobi thought while making his way to the next target.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lee was walking alone in the street. He had a very sad expression, because after the spectacle of earliear Sakura would have never talked to him again.

He didn't feel like blaming Naruto for that, neither, because he willingly followed him in such a "dangerous" situation.

He had failed. The sun was already gone, and a little half-moon had crawled its way 'til the upper part of the sky.

A bit too late for regretting. He would have gone to Teloma's party alone, just like last year, and everyone would have laughed at him.

"Damn it!" he shouted in the night, angry with his own cruel destiny.

But as Gai-sensei had thought him, there was no point in despairing. All he could do was train more, so that next time he wouldn't fail again.

"Ok, I'll go home walking on only one hand!" he decided, and so he did, jumping on his right hand and calibrating all his weight in order to maintain the balance.

He hopped for a few meters, but then a voice called out for him.

"Hey, Lee-kun!"

Lee lost his balance and fell to the ground.

"Ouch!"

"Oi! Are you alright??"

It was Tenten who, when saw his friend had fallen, quickly ran over him to offer her help. She gave him her hand, so that he could use it as a lift to stand up again.

"Tenten-chan? What are you doing here?"

"What are YOU doing here, jumping on one hand like a psycho!"

"That was… training!"

The girl looked in the eyes of her long standing friend.

"Sakura rejected you, didn't she?"

"Well, yes… No… I mean, it's like she did, even if it's my fault"

He explained everything, while Tenten tried her best not to laugh on his face. At the end of the story, she did a big, gentle smile, and told him:

"You should never follow Naruto in this sort of things!"

"I guess so…"

"Anyway, don't worry. If tomorrow you'll explain everything to Sakura, she'll understand… I suppose… Don't feel sad!"

"Yeah… I suppose you're right… Thank you Tenten…"

"You're welcome!"

"No, really… I mean, you're always there when I need you… When I train, you're there, looking at me… I wonder why…"

Silence fell among the two. Lee noticed Tenten blushed. Then, he blushed, too.

"Herr… Tenten… would you come with me tomorrow?"

"You mean… at the party?"

"Yes! No! .. Yes"

"Hemm… Ok… I mean, sure!"

They both laughed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On a roof close by, Jiraya and Tsunade had spied over Lee and Tenten, too. Jiraya was enthusiastic.

"Uahuhauha, we're even!"

"Hmm, ok, but not for long" Tsunade sulked, "We have still three to go"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few minutes passed, and the two legendary ninjas were still running and jumping on the roofs of Konoha, proceeding in their mysterious quest.

"Who's next?" Jiraya asked.

"Hmm… Kakashi?" Tsunade proposed.

"Ah! That guy is surely asking Shizune! I noticed how he looked at her" the man started to giggle.

"Ah really?"

"What?"

They both stopped their running, as they saw none other than Kakashi. But it looked like he was having a walk with a woman.

They quickly got down on the roof, in order to hide from the couple. After a while, they both peeped out.

"Hey, the woman with Kakashi is not Shizune!" Jiraya whispered.

"Ah!" Tsunade laughed, "she seems to be Hana of the Inuzuka clan! You lost again, Jiraya!"

The Hokage exclaimed the last sentence a bit too loud, thus attiring Kakashi's attention.

He looked up, but couldn't see anything.

"What's wrong, Kakashi?" Hana asked him, seeing his worry face.

Kakashi turned back to her and smiled under his usual black mask.

"No, no, nothing…"

They continued their walk, and turned around a corner.

"That was close…" laughed Jiraya from up the roof.

But he stopped laughing very soon: as soon as he remembered he had lost another point in his bet with Tsunade.

In the mean time, she was looking at him with a smirk on her face.

"2 – 1 for me, right?"

"You didn't win, yet! There are still 2 points to assign! And, by the way, Inuzuka's house should be close by, so we can check Hara's little brother, too!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kiba was already lying on his bed. It was night, afterall, and he was feeling very sleepy. Right when his eyes were going to close, he heard knocking on the glass of his window.

He turned his face…

"Hokage-sama???" the boy exclaimed, surprised to see the most important ninja of the village hanging on the window of his own room. He hurried and opened it, in order to let her in.

"What brings you here, at my house, at such a time in the night? Did something happen?" he asked, worried.

She quickly reassured him, saying: "No, not really, relax…"

Just now he saw that another ninja was entering his room by the same window: it was Jiraya, the one known, together with Tsunade and Orochimaru, as the "legendary ninja".

"You too…?"

Now Kiba was really confused.

"What…?"

"Let me talk to him" Jiraya said to Tsunade. She nodded, then he continued:

"Kiba, we came here in order to ask you a very important question. Think carefully, 'cause your answer could be determinant"

Kiba gulped and nodded.

"You have to tell me… who will come with you to tomorrow's Teloma party!"

Kiba stared at the men in front of him, speechless for a few seconds. Then he blushed.

"What…?"

"Just answer me, please" Jiraya insisted.

"Well… with… Hinata Hyuga…"

Jiraya screamed in joy.

"YEEEEESS!!!"

Tsunade, instead, looked really upset.

"What the… I knew for sure she liked Naruto!! How comes she's coming with you??" she yelled at the boy, who was confused as hell.

"I… She… We were looking for him , this morning, but since we couldn't find him anywhere, I asked Hinata to accompany me and she said yes…"

While Kiba was explaining to Tsunade what happened, Jiraya was dancing and singing all around the room.

"We're even again, Tsunade!" he laughed. In response, she snarted to Kiba: "You could track his scent, couldn't you?"

He admitted, shyly: "It was not in my interest, you know…!"

Then Jiraya blinked to him: "You really are a sly guy! Good! Now, shall we go, Tsuny…?"

"Don't call me that! Damn, how could you guess this one…?"

"You should not doubt my keen eye…"

They jumped out of the window and left Kiba alone on his bed, wondering if that encounter did just REALLY happen.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sky was completely dark, as the night engulfed Konoha in a peaceful sleep.

But not everybody, could sleep that night. Naruto, for example, wasn't in his bed. He was at the old training field, where Team 7 used to train along with Kakashi-sensei.

That place was really nothing special, just a grass sprawl with a few trees all around, and three wooden post in the centre of the area.

What made it special to Naruto, were the memories that place brought back to him. Memories of a youth, so close and still so far away.

As his eyes spread all around the place, Naruto noticed he wasn't alone. With a quick movement, he took his shuriken in his right hand, ready to launch them.

"You don't need them" Jiraya's voice said from behind.

Naruto turned his head. Jiraya and Tsunade were standing there.

"Ero-sennin?" he asked, incredulously.

"Hi there!" he smiled.

Tsunade said, with maternal care: "What are you doing here at this time of night? You should be sleeping"

Naruto laughed guiltily: "Err, you're right, but I couldn't sleep…"

Right now, the two legendary ninja noticed the incredible bruise Naruto had on his forehead.

"Naruto, ho did you this?" Tsunade asking, stroking gently the boy's wound. But Jiraya already understood, and wasn't happy at all about it.

"Herr, Naruto" he spoke, "I have to ask you something".

Naruto looked at him, perplexed: "Yes..?"

"Well, ok, first I'll explain you. I and Tsunade had a bet, earlier in this morning. I told her five pairings for the party of tomorrow. If I guessed at least three of them, I would have won. Otherwise, she would".

"Ah, Ero-sennin, this is totally like you! What a lame bet!"

"SHUT UP, kid! Anyway, as we are now, we're even. 2 – 2"

"Does it means you guessed two pairings out of four?"

"Yeah, that's right!" the old man laughed.

"And what do you need from me?"

Jiraya turned serious.

"That bruise, did Sakura do it to you?" he asked, slowly.

Naruto's eyes became stricter, as he looked elsewhere and nodded.

Tsunade laughed.

"Good girl!!"

Jiraya was going to cry.

"This means… she said "no" to your invitation, did she?" he asked.

Naruto seemed offended.

"Who told you I was going to ask her, in the first place??"

Both Jiraya and Tsunade looked at him with a "are you that naïve?" look on their faces. Naruto sighed.

"So, what did she say?" Jiraya asked again.

_Flashback_

_Sakura was very angry. Naruto could tell by the vein that appeared on her forehead. Frozen in terror, he was sitting right in front of her, unable to move or to speak. He saw that punch coming, but couldn't evade it, so he was sent flying against the wall on the other side of the room. _

_He slowly tried to stand up after the hit, but gave up as he saw Sakura was approaching him for a second shot._

"_Lee-kun's presence in here was surprising. But I had to expect something like this by you, Naruto!" she said as walking toward his terrified friend._

"_Please, Sakura, stop, it was a misunderstanding!" he begged, but Sakura stroke again. This time the boy narrow escaped, jumping away from her._

"_Stay still, you perv…"_

"_Wait, I can explain! At least listen to what I have to say!"_

"_I'M LISTENING" she yelled, punching him again in the belly. Naruto rolled away despite the pain._

"_Listen, I was looking for you because I wanted to talk to you!"_

"_Is that a good reason to follow me in the girls locker room???" she growled at him, trying to kick him on his head. Fortunately, she missed._

"_Would you please calm down??" he moaned, crawling to the top of a locker nearby and looking down at her._

"_I will calm down if you come back here!" she said, waving her right fist._

"_Yeah, sure"_

"_Come down!" she yelled._

"_Sakura, please, listen! Just see what I want to tell you, and if you don't like it, then you will punch me as you please! Ok?"_

_Sakura thought about it. Then she slowly nodded her head. _

"_You'd better have a good explanation for this!"_

"_First of all" he started nervously, "… I entered here because I saw you enter, and I didn't realize it was a locker room!"_

_He was lying, of course. But maybe Sakura would have believed him. Anyway, she didn't say or do anything. She was just staring to him._

_So he continued: "Hem… I know I always do things recklessly, and sometimes I'm really annoying, and you have a lot of patience with me… How am I going?"_

"_Fine, for now" she replied, still looking angry; but somehow she seemed amused, too._

"… _I was just thinking… Tomorrow it's Teloma…"_

_She gulped. She totally forgot about it!! She had so many things to do as the Hokage's apprentice, that she couldn't think anymore about things like that. She sighed. Now she finally understood why he and Lee-kun were acting so strange, lately._

_Well, of course now she realized what Naruto wanted to ask her, but she wanted to hear him saying that. _

_Her anger vaporised as quick as it had come, but her face remained menacing, since she was really having fun looking at Naruto's reaction. Meanwhile, he kept on speaking:_

"_And so, you know… Would you come… Herr, with me? I mean, it's not like a date or something, you know, it's just tradition.."_

"_Fine"._

"_Uh?"_

_Did he really hear that? She was smiling, after all. Maybe she really did say "fine"._

"_But!" she added, "You'd better wear some good clothes, and act politely during all the party. Is it clear?"_

"_Sure, sure!" he nodded his head vigorously._

"_Now, come down and let me punch you a little bit more!"_

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Jiraya was laughing out loud.

"Uahuhauhauha that's my boy! You seem to have put to practice all my teachings about women, uh?"

Naruto, looking at Tsunade's angry face, didn't feel like going alone with his sensei. Jiraya, however, didn't mind. He turned his head toward the Hokage.

"Now, now, this seems to give me the win, am I right?" he giggled.

"Ok" she simply said. Then, she left.

Jiraya remained there, and patted his hand on the boy's shoulder. He was going to leave, too, but Naruto stopped him.

"Ero-sennin?"

"What is it, Naruto?" he asked.

Naruto was looking over the stars in the sky.

"What's the real meaning of this Teloma thing?"

Jiraya became serious, and sat next to him.

"You know, Naruto, being a Ninja is not all about Jutsu or power… But I feel like I already told you this…"

"Yeah…"

"Well, you know, since ever, Teloma has been a recurrence with a special power, a special influence on the people of this village".

"What is it?"

"Well, how could I say… Let's just say it can pull out from everyone his best side, you know… Somebody could learn that exterior appearance is not that important, and that feelings are much more important… Somebody could learn that dating a girl could be not that troublesome, and somebody else could learn that often the person you care about the most, is the one who's always been by your side, never asking anything from you in return… "

"It's just a dance party in order to distract everyone from war, is it?"

"………. Yeah!" he admitted, with a smile, and then added: "Isn't that enough?"

Naruto thought about it for a while.

"Yeah. Maybe, we deserve something like that, now or then".

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Finished!! Yu-huuu! _

_Did you like it?_

_I actually had in mind another chapter describing the party itself, but in the end I decided that maybe that was not necessary. _

_As always, thank you very much to everyone who supported me with nice reviews. Thank you, Cherryblossom1500, RyuMiko, mangalover248, mike2vicious and Gnosimaster. _

_And a big thank you to all who read this and didn't review, giving me the stat of above 1000 hits!_

**The end.**


End file.
